Review : Postmortem

Posted by kay on May 25, 2009 3:10 am in 4 stars reads | 2 comments

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Pages : 342
Genre : Mystery
My Rating : 

Reading Post-Mortem, I had really high expectations for this book. It received so much praise that I couldn’t wait to get into it, and at first I was quite disappointed; I thought the writing was cold, detached, and I could absolutely not relate to the narrator. I wasn’t sure I would get through it, despite my interest in forensics. By page 100 though, the story had developped enough for me to keep on reading; and by page 200, I was completely hooked. I was curious about the story, about the killer, and even, finally, about the narrator, Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta.

Under cover of night in Richmond, Virginia, a human monster strikes, leaving a gruesome trail of stranglings that has paralyzed the city. Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta suspects the worst: a deliberate campaign by a brilliant serial killer whose signature offers precious few clues. With an unerring eye, she calls on the latest advances in forensic research to unmask the madman. But this investigation will test Kay like no other, because it’s being sabotaged from within and someone wants her dead.

My mother loves, loves, loves a good mystery. When I was a kid and we went to the library, she would borrow five of those and read them in a week. Not only did she gave me her love for reading, she also made me curious about mystery novels. I can say with absolute certainty though, that she wouldn’t like this one; Cornwell’s descriptions are precise, scary, some could say a little bit gory. Wheter she is at the crime seen or in her lab, Cornwell’s narrator, Scarpetta, describes with great details what’s in front of her. Reading Postmorterm is the literary equivalent of watching a C.S.I. episode. I’m quite certain that, if you don’t enjoy one, you won’t enjoy the other.

As for the writing, I enjoyed it enough. Cornwell did a good job of explaining some aspects of the procedurals without making it sound like a class. Scarpetta’s voice is interesting and, most importantly, human. I’d say I’m as far as you can get from being a M.E., and still, I felt I understood what Scarpetta was going through. Her insecurities, her fears, her doubts, her problems with her co-workers or her family were, in a way, similar to anyone’s. As the story goes, Scarpetta gets more tired and stressed by the events, and you can feel it in her actions and words. She shares with the readers her own hesitations and doubts, even those she wishes weren’t true.

You have to keep in mind that Postmortem has been written over 15 years ago, which makes the technology a little dated! There is no internet, no cell phones, and someone who knows more about medicine and procedurals than I do would probably find some of their “discoveries” quite funny. For me, it was part of the book’s magic, and it gave the investigations a different perspective from our more modern one.

The ending was a little predictable, but it is what you would expect from this kind of novel. I enjoyed the other characters, too. They were varied and interesting, giving different dynamics to Scarpetta’s home and work place. Looking back to the beginning of the book, I think I enjoyed it less because my expectations were so high. In the end though, it was a good choice for me. I’m definitely adding Cornwell to my “TBR” list!